NY Post Tabs Tabloid Wars 'Paid Programming'

Monday night at 9, cable network Bravo is debuting a six-part documentary series of that name about the iconic battle between Big Apple tabloids, set in the newsroom of the Daily News and "against the backdrop of a vicious war with the New York Post," as Bravo puts it.

Tabloid Wars gets a big write-up in the Daily News Monday (half-page, lead "Television" section story). Not surprising since the series was filmed last summer in the paper's newsroom according to the review in the paper, written by a freelancer rather than staffer--former Daily News TV writer Elizabeth Jensen (Jensen has also freelanced for B&C).

So, how did the New York Post treat the debut of a national TV show on the iconic rivalry between the city's hometown tabs? Nary a mention, and then some.

At 9-10, where it says Tabloid Wars in the TV listings of the Daily News and the New York Times and the L. A. Times and the Washington Times and, without extending the survey, likely every other paper with a TV listing, it instead says "paid programming" in the New York Post, possibly leading some readers to believe it is an infomercial rather than a summer show Bravo is trying to drum up some viewership for in the number one media market in the nation.

A New York Post executive had not returned a phone message for comment at press time.

For the record, the documentary is not paid programming, according to Bravo. That designation is generally given to infomercials for food processors, say news of a new sausage-maker, rather than actual series on, in this case, the sausage-making of news.

"The series has certainly already lived up to its name," said an amused Bravo spokesperson.